The monster generator I will be blunt is nothing to get excited about. I don't use it. It takes more effort than the actual books.
Now I would like something that is designed to aid in adventuring.
Random taverns, random treasure hoards, random dungeons, random a whole lot of things.
I have a couple of randomizers, but they are mostly tied to needing to be online at the time.
A random map option would be killer awesome. Ask a percentage of terrain types, and then spit out a quick easy map. Sure would make my game easier. Yes I know that there are a lot of people online doing these sorts of things. I don't have the time to hunt them down necessarily. If they're any good, hire them for crying out loud
So while you are churning out those nice 4th edition books, can you see about getting something more useful added to the DDI memberships supposed reasons for paying.
I don't want a casual release of these functions over the course of multiple years, I want them today.
I have several persons that would be buying books to be in a position over computer RIGHT NOW, and they are NOT buying books because they ain't playing the game.
Your sitting on lost sales.
I fear it's been quietly swept under the rug.
It's too late for that, I'm afraid.
The DDI membership is likely worth the cash just for the player character generator, but to be honest, I was hoping the powers that be would be releasing something more and something sooner to go with it.
They are working on releasing more tools. However, due to them overpromising when they first announced DDI (the original statement was that all of the tools would be available upon the release of 4E), they are now working on one tool at a time, and not announcing the next tool until it is very close to release into beta.
For WotC it is, based on my opinion, better that the tools that are released be of high quality as opposed to rapidly pushing out low quality tools. Keep in mind that WotC is not a software development house. They are learning how to properly manage the development and release of software.
Now I would like something that is designed to aid in adventuring.
Random taverns, random treasure hoards, random dungeons, random a whole lot of things.
I have a couple of randomizers, but they are mostly tied to needing to be online at the time.
A random map option would be killer awesome. Ask a percentage of terrain types, and then spit out a quick easy map. Sure would make my game easier.
One of the tools that is rumored as being worked on is a campaign manager. Whether that includes a random map option is unknown.
I would desperately like to see Game Table released some day. It's disappeared off the face of the site, and I fear it's been quietly swept under the rug. I had to cancel one group's weekly games several months ago due to everyone's different schedules. Also, I'd like to be able to play with some of my friends that I've made online.
Theer are a number of online alternatives to the DDI Game Table. Try www.rptools.net (free) or www.fantasygrounds.com (not free) for alternatives. To the best of my knowledge, they are the big two players in the online gaming tools. I have used RPTools and it works well and, once you get past the learning curve, it is fiarly intuitive. I have never used Fantasy Grounds, so I can't help you there, but there are a lot of people who enjoy using it.
Yep DDI seemed like a grand idea, the purchase price seemed like a reasonable purchase, and while everyone really likes the Player Character generator, come on W.O.C., you went on and on about a lot more than just the PC generator. If you find you have bit off more than you can chew, and can't make the virtual table happen, man up and admit it.
I don't want a casual release of these functions over the course of multiple years, I want them today.
As I mentioned above, WotC realized that they over-promised and under-delivered ont he DDI tools. They made several announcements to that effect around the time of the 4E launch. While it would be nice to have them now, if they are to be the same quality as the character builder and monster builder, it takes time.
I have several persons that would be buying books to be in a position over computer RIGHT NOW, and they are NOT buying books because they ain't playing the game.
There are other options for playing online, both free and not-free, as I listed above.
Your sitting on lost sales.
WotC is well aware that the longer that DDI goes without being fully released, they will be losing sales. However, they have also determined that if they release tools rapidly that are poorly made, that the damage will be worse to their long-term sales.
It's probably easier to keep quiet about the thing while you try to sort out all it's problems, and ultimately decide whether to scrap the project or not.
It's probably easier to keep quiet about the thing while you try to sort out all it's problems, and ultimately decide whether to scrap the project or not.
Easier and wiser.
www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20...
which they already have completed most of the work on, evidenced by the fact that it is still a working tool.
The part that isn't complete is the integration into the new tools setup & the addition of the mapping tiles that have already been published for DDi subscribers use anyway.
-These incompleted portions could be added in the 1st or 2nd update after implementation.
-Taking the time to do this as the next stage in updating the tools, would in turn give us subscribers more to work with sooner.
Remember that we can take(write down) the info from the compendium enter it into the Monster Generator, and make "custom' creatures that are any level we want/need. This means that we still have all the creatures available, while the additional tools are added/released.
Doing this would allow the development staff to then work on other tools with less pressure from customers, who feel (please note that "feel" has to do with perspective & not necessarily facts/truth, or lack thereof) as though they are paying for more than they are getting.
Keep in mind that WotC is not a software development house. They are learning how to properly manage the development and release of software.
And that is why they should be outsourcing their software development. It would allow tools to be developed faster, to a higher standard of quality, and probably at a lower cost to boot.
WotC should only keep on staff enough IT personnel to maintain and update the software, and even that can largely be offset by a good maintenance contract with a third-party developer.
Keep in mind that WotC is not a software development house. They are learning how to properly manage the development and release of software.
And that is why they should be outsourcing their software development. It would allow tools to be developed faster, to a higher standard of quality, and probably at a lower cost to boot.
WotC should only keep on staff enough IT personnel to maintain and update the software, and even that can largely be offset by a good maintenance contract with a third-party developer.
They tried that in the beginning and, as I mentioned above, the company that they were contracting with did not perform to the satisfaction of WotC, so the deecision was made to bring the development in-house. While the development is slower, it allows for better quality control on the part of Wot.
Once upon a time, you could hide magic item cards. Then, somewhere along the line, that got broken. It was fixed in the November update, then broken again in the December update.
Also, it's just an all-around buggy program in general. Same with the MB, though that at least can play the beta version card in defense.